If you plan on moving to Switzerland, you’d better brush up on your manners. That’s because applications for naturalization in Switzerland aren’t decided at the federal level, but by the country’s municipalities. The drawback is that your neighbors have a say in whether you get in or not. In 2015, a woman’s application for citizenship was denied, simply because she’s a vegan who's very vocal about it, and her neighbors had enough of her opinions. She was rejected by 144 of the 206 residents of her town. According to Switzerland’s Federal Act on the Acquisition and Loss of Swiss Citizenship — established in 1952 — a person applying for citizenship must have lived in the country for at least 12 years, must speak at least one of Switzerland’s primary languages (German, French, Italian or Romansch), must be no danger to the country, must be familiar with Swiss customs and traditions, and must integrate into the Swiss way of life. That last one helped the woman’s fellow villagers to transform the casual ostracism into something more official.

Sunday, June 7, 2020

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On This Day

1968 Sirhan Sirhan is indicted for the assassination of US Senator Robert Kennedy. He was sentenced to life in prison. He has been up for parole 15 times, denied each time on the grounds that he has not expressed adequate remorse for his crime.

Fact of the Day

The 1883 Eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia was so loud that it was heard over 3,000 miles away, which is the equivalent of hearing a sound from Ireland while you are in Boston. It ruptured the eardrums of sailors over 40 miles away.

Nature Oddities

Rats can go up to 2 weeks without water, longer than camels, who can only go 3-5 days without water.

Food and Drink

English legend claims that the name “sirloin steak” comes from when King James I of England was so impressed by the quality of his steak that he knighted the loin of beef, which was referred to thereafter as “Sirloin.”